Against the Current
Yves Coleman: Dancing with the wolves: the French riots (nr.120, jan.-feb. 2006)
“In French suburban slang, to ‘dance with the wolves’ means to provoke the cops, make them run and, obviously, to escape without being arrested. The unfortunate reality is much less romantic. The three weeks of recent riots may be seen as a long overdue political response to the profound racism of French society; but in this writer’s view this uprising is more an index of desperation of French youth, of all national origins, than the beginning of a new political movement.”

CounterPunch
Diana Johnstone: Rage in Banliene: Paris is burning (9. nov. 2005)
“The furious youth in the French suburban housing blocks known as the banlieue are expressing themselves by setting cars on fire. And not only cars: schools, creches, sports centers. So far, they are not using words, at least not audibly. So everyone else is free to speak for them, or against them, and offer his or her verbal interpretation of what these actions mean, or should mean.”Paris in Flames: a sign of France’s failure to deliver liberty, equality and fraternity to all its citizens (8. nov. 2005)
“An interview with Behzad Yaghamaian – author of the book Embrazing the Infidel about migrants from Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia to Europe. The book details the tragedies and the joys of individuals and families as they make their way to Europe in the hope of finding some kind of happines.”

Direland
Doug Ireland: Why is France burning?: The rebellion of a lost generation (6. nov. 2005)
“As someone who lived in France for nearly a decade, and who has visited those suburban ghettos, where the violence started, on reporting trips any number of times, I have not been surprised by this tsunami of inchoate youth rebellion that is engulfing France. It is the result of thirty years of government neglect.”

International Socialism
Jim Wolfreys: France in revolt: 1995-2005 (nr.109, winter 2006, s.3-20)
“Riots on an unprecedented scale have been the latest upsurge in a decade of massive but intermittent social struggles in France. Jim Wolfreys looks at the decade and suggests political conclusions.”
Abdellali Hajjat: The riots did not take place in a ‘political desert’ (nr.109, winter 2006, s.21-29)
“The causes of this popular fury are social and political, not ethnic or religious. It is not a question of some ‘failure to integrate’, a meaningless phrase these days, in that there is a dangerous tendency to privilege culturalist explanations (if they don’t integrate, it’s because of their ‘cultural difference’).”

International Viewpoint
Murray Smith: Faced with widespread revolt, government declars state of emergency (nr. 372, nov. 2005)
” … when the dust has settled, the French Left will have to develop an ongoing presence in the neighbourhoods where the revolt exploded, and from which it has been all too absent in recent years.”No to the state of emergency – defy the curfew (nr. 372, nov. 2005)
“… we are reproducing three documents issued on 8 November; a national leaflet of the LCR (French section of the Fourth International); a joint statement by left and democratic organisations; and a press statement by LCR spokesperson Olivier Besancenot.”

Middle East Report Online
Paul Silverstein and Chantal Tetreault: Urban Violence in France (nov. 2005)
“… the French state’s prolonged treatment of a segment of its own citizenry as racially suspect and intrinsically prone to violence – as potential enemies within – has proven to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Le Monde Diplomatique
Dominique Vidal: The fight against urban apartheid (dec. 2005)
The French government has used the recent unrest as an excuse to tighten up on law and order. It has handed down prison sentences to hundreds of youngsters, announced the deportation of several foreign nationals and pushed a three-month extension of the state of emergency through parliament.”

Monthly Review
Rémy Herrera: Three moments of the French revolt (vol.58, nr.2, juni 2006)
“In quick succession in May and OctoberNovember 2005 and in April 2006, French society experienced three moments of what is clearly a major revolt against neoliberalism. To understand these new class struggles in France and where they might lead it is necessary to view these three moments of revolt together as part of a single dialectical movement – full of contradictions and hidden potentials.”

Red Pepper
Naima Bouteldja: Paris is burning (9. nov. 2005)
“The riots in Paris and across France have been ignited by decades of inequality, police racism and impunity.”

Socialist ReviewFrance: roots of the revolt (nr.302, dec. 2005)
“Peter Fysh argues the French riots had both political and economic causes.”

Socialist Worker [US]
The velvet glove over an iron fist (nr. 566, 18. nov. 2005)
“France’s right-wingers crack down on youth rebellion. Lee Sustar reports on the situation in France following weeks of rioting against racism.”A revolt against racism (nr. 565, 11. nov. 2005)
“John Mullen, a member of the Ligue Communiste Revolutionnaire (LCR) and editor of the journal Socialisme International, reports from Paris on the revolt against racism that led to ongoing nights of rioting. Sherry Wolf, an editorial member of the International Socialist Review, contributed to this report.”

SolidarityFrench riots: the left responds (11. nov. 2005)
“Here you can read texts in English showing the French left’s response to the riots in France and giving background.”

Transnational Institute
Issues: French Riots: the revolt of the French underclass
“The anger that burst onto the streets of France over the past two weeks has focused world attention on the deep divisions in French society, the growing disparities in wealth and opportunity, the lack of political representation of ethnic minorities and the acute sense of discrimination felt by those of Arab and North African descent.”

Weekly WorkerParty discipline no longer works (nr. 601, 17. nov. 2005)
“Elisabeth Gauthier is a member of the executive committee of the Parti Communiste Français. She spoke to Tina Becker about the recent riots in France.”State emergency against youth revolt (nr. 600, 10. nov. 2005)
“While France explodes, the left pontificates. Peter Manson exposes the narrow-mindedness of economism.”What the French left says (nr. 600, 10. nov. 2005)
“We take a look at the comments of the most important organisations on the French left.”